Can a capacity assessment for medical reasons ever be done without the patients knowledge?

[autonomyagain]

Or would the patient know as they’d have to attend for tests etc?

I assume it would be documented in notes too?

Can these ever be done in a less formal way by a gp just about one issue or is it always a formal assessment that then removes autonomy for everything not just one thing ?

The only MH diagnosis was depression aged 14-16. I have counselling privately just for this specific issue but maybe it’s the previous depression diagnosis?

Although I do think this incident gave me ptsd so that may be relevant although it’s undiagnosed but directly due to this

You've done the right thing referring it to the GMC. Let them review and decide. No one can consent to procedures on your behalf even if you don't have capacity. Two consultants along with friends and family can make a decision in your best interests using whats called Form 4 / Best Interests. It has to be thoroughly documented and many consultants refer such decisions to the courts when there the situation isn't immediately life threatening.

I'd wait for the outcome of the GMC review and then decide if you want to take legal action. A law firm would be interested it you had a GMC ruling in your favour as there is a solid case.

The limitation period to bring a claim is 3 years from discovering that the unlawful action took place so OP will be out of time to bring a claim if she waits until the GMC ruling (and may already be out of time now).

Yes I’ve sent them everything so I’ll have to see what they say. I think really I just feel like I need official recognition that it wasn’t correct procedure I know it won’t change it but it feels wrong to just let this happen and do nothing but it took me so so long to get my notes I didn’t realise they had heard me but ignored my wishes

Have you gone through PALS? They can set up a meeting with a knowledgeable medical professional to talk you through your notes.

I haven’t , in approx 2004 or 2005 I had requested my notes it was refused and instead the consultant asked to meet with me .
After that I left it as was so upset and just re applied and got my notes in 2020

I did this 13 years after a procedure and everyone was very helpful. They looked through my notes and gave a professional opinion (which was my son's disability wasn't caused by aa birth accident).

I'm so glad I did it because I had been worried for years.

I think you are worried that you somehow gave consent, either directly or indirectly.

Without an answer, you will struggle to move on.

Yes the limitation period is 3 years from realisation. This would be from around now when she's posted asking if it was OK for her mum, GP, Consultant and nurse to go against her wishes

Also she was denied access to her medical records when she originally asked. On these grounds the limitation period I believe would be extended if the GMC found there is a case to answer

No. It’s 3 years from the event unless there has been deception or concealment (as there was in this case) in which case it’s 3 years from the point when she could by reasonable diligence have discovered she had a claim (ie the date she finally got the medical notes).

Yes the limitation period would run from the date she got the notes - which was 2020 so will run out in 2023. The law is quite clear that you aren’t allowed to wait for the determination of another tribunal before issuing the claim

I’ve just doubled checked and it was actually june 2021 I got them not June 2020 so that means I still have time

I’ve sent them all to the GMC I assume they’ll check with the medical records department too. I was actually shocked they still had them after so long

They had also put the wrong weeks in the notes too - I was in my second trimester . The unit only performed terminations up to 12 weeks . They put 11 weeks in my notes but I have scans and scan reports clearly showing the real gestation so on that count they definitely broke a rule as it was meant to be only up to 12 weeks 😞

You do have time and if my recollection is correct, you also have or have had mental health issues so there's mitigation for extending the 3 years due to your conditions

@LadyLolaRuben when you consistently give this poor legal advice to the OP you are encouraging her to delay a claim in a way which will be prejudicial to her. The OP has said she has had no diagnosed mental health difficulties since the age of 14, so there are clearly no grounds for an extension on that ground!

I’m also trying to find out - how would I get the information of at the time a complaint was made against the counsellor at the hospital- my mother was furious that my counselling sessions were delaying the termination (I had to have more than one) and she kept saying she would get the counsellor sacked?
The first week I was taken and made such a fuss screaming and crying they told me off that I was upsetting other patients and got the counsellor to see me - I said to her i was going as I was being forced . My mother told me once home that she was making sure the counsellor would not be there to help me the next week - and she wasn’t. I know she left the hospital not long after that I feel like my mother maybe made a formal complaint or did something ? She was threatening all sorts as didn’t want anyone in the way of her desired outcome

On the GMC complaint form I had to put the names of any potential witnesses and I put the counsellors name . I know she was abroad for many years but is back in the U.K. now so I really desperately hope they can contact her and she remembers

It’s vanishingly unlikely that any records of a complaint against the counsellor would still exist 23 years later - particularly if she is no longer employed by the hospital trust. These would have been destroyed at the time GDPR was implemented if not well before then.

i was surprised they still had my notes actually , I just remember how furious she was that I had to have multiple sessions (I was stalling desperately and I think the counsellor was unsure what to do but in the end I felt like she was kept away from me ?)

All I can hope is that the GMC look at all the evidence and go from there. My notes really make the situation very clear. I think that’s what’s been so difficult for me. To read it all , it’s so wrong yet I can’t understand why they recorded everything? It’s so wrong I would have expected no record or lies but they’ve recorded the truth and it’s awful to read but so confusing in the sense that it’s a clear admission ?

Sounds like there is evidence of a big cover up too. You poor thing. I’m so pleased that you continue to have counselling.

Hi, can someone please tell me that if a Mental Health Lack of Capacity Assesment has been done by A Social Worker on my Adult Autistic Child should I have been given paperwork for this ? And also I have been in touch with my daughters Gp practice and they said they have No information on record about this?Would this have to be on her notes with her Gp?Me Personally can’t remember this being done last year as my daughters social worker has said, could they be telling me lies as they are trying to control everything about her although she lives with me, how do I go about this, thankyou